Bithumb Venture (Touch B) To Accept Cryptocurrencies at Food Outlets

Bithumb has announced that it is starting a new venture that will see the company operating a kiosk business under the brand name Touch B. In this new role, the South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange will take on the task of installing kiosks in restaurants, cafes, and small eateries.

The stand-alone booths installed by Bithumb will enable customers to browse menus and place orders digitally without requiring to cope with the annoyance of standing in long queues.

Sponsored Links

The use of kiosks for ordering food at restaurants is a popular concept in South Korea.

Among other things, the new venture underlines Bithumb’s ambition to expand into new territories and add new revenue streams to the company’s bottom-line. For smooth execution of the proposed move, Touch B has joined forces with three kiosk manufacturers including Tros Systems, I’m U, and Unos Pay.

A Bite For Some ‘Bits’

None of the parties involved in the process have revealed anything regarding the software that will power these kiosks. However, according to reports, Touch B will charge a comparatively lower rental fee for the kiosks. The Bithumb subsidiary believes these low-cost kiosks will enable small and medium-sized enterprises to increase their efficiency and profit margins by increasing sales while reducing costs.

ZDNet Korea reports that the rental fee charged by Touch B will nearly ten percent less than what other kiosk operators charge in the country. This is indeed an aggressive strategy by the company to enter the market with a bang. Whether or not it delivers the desired result will remain interesting to follow up.

And yes, as you would expect, all kiosks operated by Touch B will feature the option of paying through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Other Comparable Ventures

On a related note, Bithumb is also planning on rolling out Bithumb Cache, a new service that makes it possible for users to convert funds within the exchange using kiosks by entering passwords only.

While the launch of Touch B reflects Bithumb’s growing focus on expansion, it is not the first time the exchange has ventured out of its core business. Earlier in Jan 2018, Bithumb teamed up with WeMakePrice to help the shopping mall make necessary provisions to accept cryptocurrency payments. The exchange also entered a similar agreement with travel website Good Choice whereby it helped the website to accept payments in bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Bithumb also happens to be one of the first South Korean crypto exchanges to have embraced the new rules enacted by the country’s regulators. According to the new rules laid down by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), all cryptocurrency exchanges will be mandatorily required to collaborate with banks.

To comply with the new rules, Bithumb has joined forces with Nonghyup and Shinhan Bank. The new rules also make it necessary for exchanges to implement a “real-name” cryptocurrency trading system. In other words, as this rule is enforced, investors will have to use their real name while carrying out crypto transactions.